It was meant to strike fear into the hearts of the nation and in that sense it was certainly effective.

Critics at the time suggested it increased fear rather than understanding, but how does its panic driven message come across three decades later?

To date it is the only major government campaign about AIDS so the Terrence Higgins Trust decided to find out.

It has been 30 years since the adverts were launched in the UK (Picture: Terrence Higgins Trust)

Critics said they drove fear more than informed (Picture: Terrence Higgins Trust)

In a video released to coincide with World AIDS Day the charity showed the old advert to seven people.

Some young people had no living memory of these ads. For others, they remembered it all too well.

Ian Green, chief executive of Terrence Higgins Trust, said: ‘Watching the reactions to the tombstones campaign, thirty years on, shows how far we’ve come since those dark days, but also how far we’ve got to go before we eradicate the fear and stigma that continue to surround HIV in 2016.

‘On World AIDS Day, we’re saying #ItsNotOver.

‘We’re still fighting, still caring, and still wearing our red ribbons with pride.’